
18+Dororo
Osamu Tezuka · 动作 · 冒险漫画连载Previously published in three installments, the entire run of comic master Osamu Tezuka's enduring classic is herewith available in one volume at a new affordable price. The lauded adventures of a young swordsman and his rogue sidekick that also inspired the cult video game Blood Will Tell have never been as accessible. A samurai lord has bartered away his newborn son's organs to forty-eight demons in exchange for dominance on the battlefield. Yet, the abandoned infant survives thanks to a medicine man who equips him with primitive prosthetics - lethal ones with which the wronged son will use to hunt down the multitude of demons to reclaim his body one piece at a time, before confronting his father. On his journeys the young hero encounters an orphan who claims to be the greatest thief in Japan. Like an unforgettable road movie, Dororo reaches deeper than its swashbuckling surface and offers a thoughtful allegory of becoming what one is, for nobody is born whole.
Tomorrow the Birds
Osamu Tezuka · 科幻漫画连载Classic science fiction from Osamu Tezuka, the Godfather of Manga, now in English! Originally published between 1971 and 1975, this tapestry of seven-page short stories and novellas depicts an Earth where birds become the dominant class. A fatal fire in the countryside escalates into incineration of cities by swarms of pyromaniac magpies. An avian leader with psychic power demands a brutal reduction in the human population. Homo sapiens descends into a subservient role but manages to land some counterpunches. The birds’ quest for equality is derailed by conflict between carnivorous species and those that eat insects. What jump-started the wild leap in ornithological evolution? What will be the fate of humans?
The Twin Knights
Osamu Tezuka · 冒险 · 奇幻漫画连载A gem from the fifties when the legendary master was most deeply involved in girls' comics, Twin Knights is more than just a sequel to the shojo manga milestone Princess Knight. More close addressing issue of station as well as gender, this one-volume tale has all the antic innocence of the early Tezuka even as it revises the more famous works' premise, doing away with the conceit of "boy and girl hearts" and invoking the vagaries of chance and power in their place.
18+The Book of Human Insects
Osamu Tezuka · 青年向 · 悲剧漫画连载Toshiko Tomura is a genius; the darling of the intelligentsia. A modern-day Michelangelo, this twenty year-old is already an established international stage actress, an up-and-coming architect, and the next recipient of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize as Japan's best new writer. Her actions make headlines in the papers, and inspire radio and television programming. And like many great talents, her troubled past is what motivates her to greatness. She has the amazing ability to emulate the talents of others. Toshiko is also the mastermind behind a series of murders. The ultimate mimic, she has plagiarized, blackmailed, stolen and replicated the works of scores of talents. And now as her star is rising within the world of the elites and powerful she has amassed a long list of enemies frustrated by the fact that she has built critical and financial acclaim for nothing more than copying others' work. Neglected as a child, she is challenging the concepts of gender inequality while unleashing her loneliness upon the world as she climbs the social ladder one body at a time. One of Osamu Tezuka's most wicked tales, The Book of Human Insects renders the 70's as a brutal and often polarizing bug-eat-bug world, where only those willing to sell their soul to the masses and become something less than human are capable of achieving their wildest dreams.
Shakespeare Manga Theatre
Osamu Tezuka · 剧情 · 历史漫画连载"Over the course of his career, legendary mangaka Osamu Tezuka adapted many of Shakespeare’s works. Shakespeare Manga Theater collects these adaptations into one volume. The book includes the following: - The Merchant of Venice (1959) - Robio and Robiette (from Astro Boy, 1965) - Macbeth (from Vampire “The Three Fortunetellers”, 1966) - Hamlet (from Rainbow Parakeet, 1981) - The Taming of the Shrew (from Rainbow Parakeet, 1981) - Othello (from Rainbow Parakeet, 1982) Shakespeare Manga Theater is sure to be popular not just with Tezuka fans, but also provide a fun and useful educational tool for schools interested in presenting Shakespeare in a format that is easier for readers to engage with.
Princess Knight
Osamu Tezuka · 动作 · 冒险漫画连载Set in a medieval fairy-tale backdrop, Princess Knight is the tale of a young princess named Sapphire who must pretend to be a male prince so she can inherit the throne. Women have long been prevented from taking the throne, but Sapphire is not discouraged and instead she fully accepts the role, becoming a dashing hero(ine) that the populous is proud of. The playful cartooning style of Princess Knight is comparable to that of Disney, à la Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Considered by many as one of the first major shojo works, inspiring comics for girls such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Cardcaptor Sakura and Sailor Moon for generations to follow. A rare shojo property from the godfather of manga, Princess Knight has been long considered one of Tezuka's most popular works worldwide.
One Hundred Tales
Osamu Tezuka · 冒险 · 喜剧漫画连载Ichirui Hanri is an ordinary accountant serving his master. Though innocent, he is ordered to commit hara-kiri after being entangled in some trouble in his master's house. Just then, a witch named Sudama appears. She signs a contract with Hanri to obtain his soul in exchange for fulfilling three of his wishes. Hanri gets what he wants...but the price he pays is too high. An enchanting supernatural fable from Osamu Tezuka, known worldwide as the “Godfather of Manga” and the most influential person of the past century in the development of Japanese manga and anime."
18+Ode to Kirihito
Osamu Tezuka · 悬疑 · 超自然漫画连载A promising young doctor, Kirihito Osanai visits a remote Japanese mountain village to investigate the source of the latest medical mystery. While he ends up traveling the world to discover what it takes to be cured of such a disease, a conspiracy back home attempts to explain away his absence. Hinging upon his fate are those of his loved ones: an unstable childhood friend and colleague trapped between factions of the medical establishment that nurtured him; a fiancée emotionally transformed by Kirihito's mysterious disappearance; and a stranger who becomes his guardian angel, a sensual circus-act performer with volatile psychological secrets. From plutocratic Taipei and racially divided South Africa to backwater Arabia and modern Osaka, ambition and desire beckon "normal men" to behave uglier than any beast. Riveting our attention on deformity and its acceptance like The Elephant Man by David Lynch, Ode to Kirihito examines the true worth of human beings through and beyond appearances.
Neo Faust
Osamu Tezuka · 恐怖 · 青年向漫画连载After years of failure to discover the meaning of the universe, Professor Ichinoseki decides to end his own life, but he is interrupted by the sorceress Mephist. They strike a bargain: in exchange for Ichinoseki’s soul, Mephist will grant his wish for a fulfilled life... Originally published over the course of 1988, NEO FAUST is the final of three adaptations of the classical Faust legend by “The Godfather of Manga,” Osamu Tezuka, which ABLAZE is proud to present in English for the first time.
18+MW
Osamu Tezuka · 恐怖 · 悬疑漫画连载A secret U.S. chemical weapon called "MW" accidentally leaks and wipes out the population of a southern Japanese island. Though Michio Yuki survives, he emerges from the ordeal without a trace of conscience. MW is manga-god Osamu Tezuka's controversial testament to the Machiavellian character and features his most direct engagement of themes such as transvestism and homoeroticism. MW is a chilling picaresque of evil. Steering clear of the supernatural as well as the cuddly designs and slapstick humor that enliven many of Tezuka's better-known works, MW explores a stark modern reality where neither drive nor secular justice seems to prevail. This willfully "anti-Tezuka" achievement from the master's own pen nevertheless pulsates with his unique genius.
18+Message to Adolf
Osamu Tezuka · 动作 · 悬疑漫画连载It is 1936 in Berlin, Nazi Germany. A Japanese reporter named Sohei Tohge is covering the Berlin Olympic Games for the Japanese press. As he sits in the Japanese press box watching the many track and field events of the day, he receives a call from his younger brother Isao, who has been studying in Germany as an international student. The two make plans to meet as Isao mentions he has something of importance to share with his sibling. While Sohei initially thinks his little brother may have found a young frau, Isao's tone is clearly that of one who is troubled by topics much heavier than romance. When Sohei arrives at Berlin University, he finds his brother's room has been through some sort of violent ordeal. A mysterious message was left on a note pad and a window was left wide open. And tangled in the branches of a tree directly below Isao's window rested his dead body. Isao was murdered. Sohei would immediately launch an investigation to the murder, but almost instantly all traces of information regarding his younger brother's study in Germany has vanished. The police were of no help. Isao's room was also cleared and rented out to another person. Even his building manager feigned ignorance. It was as if he had never existed. Investigating the matter, it is later learned that this murder is connected to a document he mailed to Japan with information regarding Adolf Hitler. As events progress, the lives of three Adolfs, each from distinct origins, intertwine and become more and more tangled as Sohei Toge searches for his brother's murderer.
18+Buddha
Osamu Tezuka · 冒险 · 喜剧漫画连载Osamu Tezuka's vaunted storytelling genius, consummate skill at visual expression, and warm humanity blossom fully in his eight-volume epic of Siddhartha's life and times. Tezuka evidences his profound grasp of the subject by contextualizing the Buddha's ideas; the emphasis is on movement, action, emotion, and conflict as the prince Siddhartha runs away from home, travels across India, and questions Hindu practices such as ascetic self-mutilation and caste oppression. Rather than recommend resignation and impassivity, Tezuka's Buddha predicates enlightenment upon recognizing the interconnectedness of life, having compassion for the suffering, and ordering one's life sensibly. Philosophical segments are threaded into interpersonal situations with ground-breaking visual dynamism by an artist who makes sure never to lose his readers' attention. Tezuka himself was a humanist rather than a Buddhist, and his magnum opus is not an attempt at propaganda. Hermann Hesse's novel or Bertolucci's film is comparable in this regard; in fact, Tezuka's approach is slightly irreverent in that it incorporates something that Western commentators often eschew, namely, humor.
Bomba!
Osamu Tezuka · 剧情 · 恐怖漫画连载A MISGUIDED LOVE, TRAMPLED BY DREAMS... Tetsu is a seemingly normal student whose passionate love for his teacher turns violent in the most unexpected of ways when another suitor attempts to stand between them. Haunted by his family's past, Tetsu must learn to navigate his desire and quell his rage if he hopes to find peace and solace in his relationships with others. Osamu Tezuka's masterful artwork and irrepressibly creative page layouts reach a feverish peak in depicting the manifestation of the tortured youth's explosive angst. Thematically rich yet instinctively relatable, Bomba! deftly weaves an exploration of the complex nature of friendship and the lasting psychological ravages of war into its tale of love, jealousy, revenge, and redemption.
Black Jack
Osamu Tezuka · 喜剧 · 剧情漫画连载Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic young genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing and impossible medical feats. Though a trained physician, he refuses to accept a medical license due to his hatred and mistrust of the medical community's hypocrisy and corruption. This leads Black Jack to occasional run-ins with the authorities, as well as from gangsters and criminals who approach him for illegal operations. Black Jack charges exorbitant fees for his services, the proceeds from which he uses to fund environmental projects and to aid victims of crime and corrupt capitalists. But because Black Jack keeps his true motives secret, his ethics are perceived as questionable and he is considered a selfish, uncaring devil. The Black Jack series is told in short stories. Each volume will contain 16-20 stories, each running approximately 20-24 pages in length. Black Jack is recognized as Osamu Tezuka's third most famous series, after Astro Boy and Kimba, the White Lion.
18+Apollo's Song
Osamu Tezuka · 科幻 · 超自然漫画连载Apollo's Song follows the tragic journey of Shogo, a young man whose abusive childhood has instilled in him a loathing for love so profound he finds himself compelled to acts of violence when he is witness to any act of intimacy or affection whether by human or beast. His hate is such that the gods intervene, cursing Shogo to experience love throughout the ages ultimately to have it ripped from his heart every time. From the Nazi atrocities of World War II to a dystopian future of human cloning, Shogo loses his heart, in so doing, healing the psychological scars of his childhood hatred. Master storyteller Osamu Tezuka's Apollo's Song is a lyrical tour-de-force on the human spirit, the destruction of hate, and the triumph of love.
Osamu Tezuka | TIBIU